TANF
is a block grant that gives funding to states to create and administer a
program to fulfill the purposes of TANF including:

1.
assisting needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes
or homes of relatives;

2.
reducing the dependency of needy parents by promoting job preparation, work and
marriage;

3.
preventing out-of-wedlock pregnancies; and

4.
encouraging the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.

In
order to receive TANF funding, states are required to spend a minimum amount of
non-federal funds, calledmaintenance-of-effort(“MOE”), to “help
eligible families in ways that further a TANF purpose.” Specifically, TANF
and MOE funds may be spent on “assistance,”
(including cash payments, vouchers, and other forms of benefits) created to
meet a family's ongoing basic needs for: food, clothing, shelter, utilities, household
goods, personal care items, general incidental expenses, transportation and child
care provided to families who are not employed.

This
NPRM responds to provisions in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job
Creation Act of 2012(“Public Law 112-96”) which requires
states receiving TANF grants to “maintain
policies and practices” as needed “to
prevent” benefits provided by the program “from being used … in: any liquor store; any casino, gambling casino,
or gaming establishment; or any retail establishment that provides
adult-oriented entertainment in which performers disrobe or perform in an
unclothed state for entertainment.”Prior
to the enactment of Public Law 112-96, no federal rules restricted a
recipient’s use of TANF benefits.

This
proposed rule imposes a new reporting requirement and a new penalty.Specifically, states will be required to
report to the Department
of Health and Human Services(“HHS”) by
February 22, 2014, (1) their “implementation
of policies and practices related to restricting . . . TANF assistance in EBT
transactions” at specific establishments and (2) a statement as to how they
intend to implement said policies and procedures. The state plan must include
an explanation of how the state plans to ensure that:

1.
recipients of the assistance have adequate access to their cash assistance, and

2.
recipients of assistance have access to using or withdrawing assistance with
minimal fees or charges.

HHS
will reduce the state’s grant for failure to comply.

Interested
parties areinvited to submit comments,
identified by Docket No: ACF_FRDOC_0001-0045, by May 7, 2014, by any
one of the following methods: